Vienna - New sanctions against Iran are necessary in case the Islamic state does not come around in the nuclear dispute, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Wednesday in Vienna. "If there is no result from negotiations and dialogue, the question of sanctions can of course not be excluded," the minister told reporters.
Westerwelle was in Vienna to meet outgoing Director General Mohamed ElBaradei and his successor Yukiya Amano, who takes over on December 1.
The United States, France and other Western countries have given Iran until the end of the year to cooperate better with the IAEA in clearing up open questions about its nuclear programme, and to enter into negotiations with world powers.
So far, Iran has not formally responded to a multinational proposal to exchange its low-enriched uranium for foreign nuclear fuel for a medical reactor in Tehran, as a way to build confidence in the country's peaceful nuclear intentions.
Tehran denies it has any plans to build nuclear weapons, but has not convinced the international community so far.
"A nuclear-armed Iran is not an option we can accept," Westerwelle said before meeting his Austrian counterpart Michael Spindelegger.
